Plastic fastener and method of securing same to material

ABSTRACT

A plastic, single component, button-type fastener having a button portion with a smaller collar and a slender neck extending from the collar to a tapered stem, the tapered stem having a pointed end and a lower surface defining an undercut around the neck with an upper surface of the collar. A method of securing the above described fastener to a piece of material including forcing the stem through the piece of material to position the material in the undercut, cold-heading the stem and partially shearing the cold-headed stem.

United States Patent Reynolds et al.

1451 Oct. 10,1972

[54] PLASTIC FASTENER AND METHOD OF SECURING SAME TO MATERIAL [72]Inventors: Rolfe E. Reynolds; Alfred E. Carlile,

both of Meadville, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Textron Inc.

[22] Filed: Dec. 8, 1969 1211 Appl. No.: 882,979

[52] 11.8. CI ..24/90, 85/37, 24/208 A [51] Int. Cl. ..A44b 1/18 [58]Field of Search ..24/90, 94, 96, 101, 208 A,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,416,196 12/1968 Mathison..24/90 405,529 6/1889 Bryant ..24/90 2/1953 Sutin ..24/90 RP 4/1970Neill ..85/37 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay Assistant ExaminerGarryMoore Attorney-Meech & Field [57] ABSTRACT A plastic, single component,button-type fastener having a button portion with a smaller collar and aslender neck extending from the collar to a tapered stem, the taperedstem having a pointed end and a lower surface defining an undercutaround the neck with an upper surface of the collar. A method ofsecuring the above described fastener to a piece of material includingforcing the stern through the piece of material to position the materialin the undercut, cold-heading the stem and partially shearing thecoldheaded stem.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENT-E0 01 1 2 3.696.470

48' MATERIAL I INVENTOR'S,

Rolfe E. R ds Alfred E. 'Ie

ATTORNEYS PLASTIC FASTENER'AND METHOD OF SECURING SAME TO MATERIALBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION LField of the Invention The presentinvention pertains to plastic fasteners and more particularly toplastic, button-type fasteners which may be secured to material withoutthe use of threads or stitching and a method of securing such plasticfasteners to material.

2. Description of the Prior Art Fasteners of the button or stud type forinsertion in a buttonhole in a garment to fasten two pieces thereoftogether are widely utilized. Such fasteners conventionally aredisc-shaped with a central portion having a plurality of aperturestherein for receiving thread which is stitched into the material tosecure the fastener thereto. The use of threads in securing buttontypefasteners to material has the disadvantage of requiring intricate andcostly apparatus for automatic stitching in the home and in industry;and, furthermore, threads have a tendency to fray and loosen therebyrequiring frequent replacement of the button-type fasteners.The'frequent loss and replacement of buttontype fasteners is a source ofconstant bother to the housewife especially since the threads aresubject to great tensile forces when the two pieces of the garment areseparated without properly pushing the button-type fastener through thebuttonhole. Another disadvantage in the use of threads for securingbutton-type fasteners is that tensile stress on the threads tends tocrinkle thin, synthetic, lightweight materials. The disadvantages ofconventional, thread-secured, button-type fastener that may be securedto material without the use of threads.

There have been many attempts to provide buttontype fasteners of anature to permit their simple an easy securing to material to not onlyaid the housewife in replacing such fasteners and in initially securingsuch fasteners to homemade garments but also to facilitate the securingof such fasteners to mass produced garments. All previous attempts toovercome the disadvantages of securing fasteners to material with threadhave failed in that they normally require a securing step tantamount tothat of stitching. That is, attempts to overcome the disadvantages ofusing thread to secure button-type fasteners have centered around thecontinued use of conventional button-type fasteners with changedsecuring means, such as crimpable nylon filaments. Thus, some sort ofsecuring element must be inserted through the apertures in thefastenerand the material; and, accordingly, the disadvantages of time consumingattachment and the requirement of threading have not been obviated.

The problems to be overcome in providing a buttontype fastener withoutthe disadvantages of threadsecured fasteners are manifold and haveprevented the construction of a suitable replacement for theconventional thread-fastened, button-type fastener despite the manyattempts. Some of the problems involved are that button-type fastenersmust be capable of being formed in a myriad of sizes, shapes and colorsin order that they may be matched with the many materials utilized ingarments, that fasteners of this type must be secured to material in amanner such that the material is not damaged, that the securing of suchfasteners to material must be an extremely simple step to permit fullutilization throughout industry as well as by housewives, and that suchfasteners must be firmly secured to the material to avoid inadvertentloss.

In order to providebutton-type fasteners capable of being formed in manysizes, shapes and colors, it is desirable to manufacture the fastenersof a plastic material, such as nylon. The use of nylon, however,presents a problem in that the memory of the nylon prevents securingofthe fastener to material by any simple and quick method. Accordingly,attempts have been made to utilize heat in deforming a fastener tosecure the fastener to material; however, the use of heat not onlycomplicates the steps necessary to properly. secure the fastener to thematerial but further provides the disadvantage of possible deformationand injury to the material and/or the fastener during the securingprocess.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the presentinvention to form a plastic, button-type fastener which may be securedto material without the use of threads, thread equivalents, or heat.

The present invention is generally characterized in a plastic, singlecomponent, button-type fastener having a button portion, a neck portionextending from the button portion, and tapered stem portion having apointed end and an end connected with the neck portion and having agreater width than the neck portion to define an undercut whereby thestem portion may be inserted through material to capture the material inthe undercut.

Another object of the present invention is to construct a button-typefastener that has a stem for insertion through material without damagingthe material.

A further object of the present invention is to secure a plastic,button-type fastener to material by flattening a stem of the fastenerand then partially shearing the flattened stem to destroy the memory ofthe plastic.

The present invention has another object in that a button-type fastenerhas a tapered stem and a neck portion forming an undercut to capturematerial to which the fastener is to be secured.

A further object of the present invention is to shape a plastic, singlecomponent, button'type fastener such that the fastener may becold-headed to firmly grasp material to which the fastener is to besecured without rubbing.

Some of the advantages of the button-type fastener of the presentinvention over prior art fasteners are that the button-type fastener canby secured to material without threads or threading, that thebutton-type fastener can be easily secured to material with a hand tooland without the use of heat, that the button-type fastener has greatstrength and is firmly-secured, and that the button-type fastener issuitable for use with mass produced garments.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment asshown in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of abutton-type fastener according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the button-type fastener of FIG. 1 inalignment with an attaching tool after attachment of the fastener to apiece of material.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section of the attached buttontype fastener ofFIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A button-type fastener accordingto the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is preferablyformed as a single component of a plastic material, such as nylon.Fastener 10 has an annular button portion 12 having an outer face 14, aplanar inner face 16 joined by an arcuate edge 18, and a cylindricalcollar 20 centrally disposed on inner face 16 and having a diametersmaller than the diameter of the flat portion of inner face 16.

A slender, cylindrical neck portion 22 extends coaxially from a flatupper surface 24 of collar 20 to a conical stem 26 which tapers to apointed end 28. Stem 26 has a flat lower surface 30 which is in parallelwith upper surface 24 of collar 20 to define a annular undercut 32 forreceiving material to which fastener 10 is to be secured.

In order to secure fastener 10 to a piece of material, pointed end 28 ispositioned adjacent the desired location of fastener 10 on the material.By applying a slight pressure to the fastener, pointed end 28 piercesthe material, and the fastener is then forced through the material untilthe material snaps into undercut 32. It should be appreciated that thetapered shape of stem 26 permits the fastener to be self-piercing andthereby obviates the use of an additional piercing element such as theneedle required to pull thread through material.

Once fastener 10 has pierced the material, stem 26 is cold-headed withany suitable attaching tool, such as the tool 34 partially illustratedin FIG. 2. Tool 34 includes a stationary cylindrical pressure block 36which has an upper end 38 adapted to be secured to any suitable forcetransmitting member such as the movable handle of a plier-like hand tooland a slightly concave pressure surface 40 adapted to engage stem 26. Acylindrical shearing sleeve 42 is coaxially 'and slidably mounted aroundpressure block 36 and has an inner surface 44 acting as a shearing edgeand a flat annular pressure surface 46. Shearing sleeve 42 is adapted tobe operatively attached to the force transmitting member to moveindividually in relation to pressure block 36.

The cold-heading of stem 26 is a two-step process. Pressure block 34 isfirst forced against stem 26 such that concave pressure surface 40quickly smashes the stem into a flattened, slightly convex form, andthereafter shearing sleeve 42 is moved axially along pressure block 36against the flattened stem. Shearing sleeve 42 is moved past pressuresurface 40 of pressure block 42 to complete the forming of a securinghead for the fastener in a manner such that annular pressure surface 46forms an outer rim 48 for the securing head. Outer rim 48 surrounds acentral protrusion 50 formed by the partial shearing action of innersurface 44 against the flattened stem as the leading edge of innersurface 44 moves past concave pressure surface 40. The shearing actiondestroys the memory of the plastic and sets or stress relieves thecold-formed head.

As may be more clearly appreciated from FIG. 3, the cold-heading of stem26 causes neck 22 to bulge and assume a barrel-like shape 52 to morefirmly contact the material in annular undercut 32. Furthermore, thepressure during cold-heading forces outer rim 48 of the cold-formed headtoward upper surface 24, as shown at 54, to decrease annular undercut 32and firmly grasp the material. This is extremely advantageous in that itprevents movement of fastener 10 with respect to the material to therebyprevent fraying of the material from rubbing against the fastener.Accordingly, it can be seen that the fastener of the present inventionis prevented from inadvertent loss. The sheared edge 56 of centralprotrusion 50 is formed relatively slowly with respect to the initialsmashing of stem 26 such that radial cold flow is permitted to form thehead and to completely destroy the memory of the plastic.

The surface of fastener 10 prior to cold-heading, as shown in FIG. 1, isuniquely responsible for the strength of the attached fastener and theease with which the fastener is secured to material. The pointed end 28permits initial piercing of the material without severing the threads,and the tapered shape of stem 26 allows the stem 26 to be fully insertedwithout damage to the material. The tapered shape of stem 26 alsofacilitates flattening of the stem since the pointed end does notexhibit a great resistance to change thereby increasing the ease withwhich the fastener may be secured to material. The annular undercut 32permits the material to snap back to its initial form and be capturedaround neck 22. The lower surface 30 of stem 26, which eventually formsouter rim 48, is aligned with the upper surface 24 of collar 20 suchthat pressure during cold-heading is evenly distributed, and thediameters of upper surface 24 of collar 20 and lower surface 30 of stem26 are much greater than the diameter of neck 22 to provide asubstantial undercut 32. The diameter of collar 20 is small enough to bereceived in a buttonhole, and outer surface 14 of button portion 12 mayhave any desired shape or design for aesthetic appeal.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many variations,modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all mattercontained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanyingdrawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

1. A one-piece plastic button for button holes on garment material andthe like comprising a button portion having a first width and havingrounded edges adapted for easy insertion and removal during a buttoningmovement, I

a collar extending from said button portion and having a second widthless than said first width and having an upper surface for contactingone side of a material,

a neck portion having a third width less than said second width andextending from said collar through the material, V

a head portion having a tapered stem portion extending from said neckportion for insertion through the material and being deformed into topand lower surfaces with an outer rim therebetween,

the lower surface contacting another side of the material and the outerrim having a width greater than said third width, and

said outer rim being displaced toward said collar causing the materialto be firmly grasped between the upper surface of said collar and thelower surface of said head portion whereby movement of said neck portionand said upper and lower sur- 5 Sald head pomon' faces is precludedrelative to the material.

1. A one-piece plastic button for button holes on garment material andthe like comprising a button portion having a first width and havingrounded edges adapted for easy insertion and removal during a buttoningmovement, a collar extending from said button portion and having asecond width less than said first width and having an upper surface forcontacting one side of a material, a neck portion having a third widthless than said second width and extending from said collar through thematerial, a head portion having a tapered stem portion extending fromsaid neck portion for insertion through the material and being deformedinto top and lower surfaces with an outer rim therebetween, the lowersurface contacting another side of the material and the outer rim havinga width greater than said third width, and said outer rim beingdisplaced toward said collar causing the material to be firmly graspedbetween the upper surface of said collar and the lower surface of saidhead portion whereby movement of said neck portion and said upper andlower surfaces is precluded relative to the material.
 2. The inventionas recited in claim 1 wherein said head portion includes sheared edgemeans defining a protrusion centrally extending from the top surface ofsaid head portion.